Singapore's GIC Joins Canada's Brookfield To Buy Reliance Jio's Telecom Tower Assets

On Tuesday, GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, said that it has, with a group of investors, including Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP, bought an Indian telecom tower company that forms a part of Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited for $3.4 billion or Rs 25,200 crore.

The deal was signed in December last year and had been awaiting regulatory approval.

The Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has been selling stakes in its digital unit to blue-chip companies, raising billions of dollars, to cut debt.

"The portfolio offers resilient income and long-term value given India's attractive data demand growth outlook as 4G and smartphone penetration is still very low," said Ang Eng Seng, GIC's chief investment officer for infrastructure.

The investment by the group is for around 135,000 communication towers used by Reliance's telecoms venture Jio Infocomm, GIC said in a statement.

"While we remain cautious in this period of high uncertainty, we continue to seek good, long-term opportunities in India," Seng said

With the increase in the number of people using internet in the world's second populous country, telecom infrastructure would be key to widen its accessibility via mobile network.

In a separate statement, RIL said that the deal marks the single largest foreign investment in an Indian infrastructure vehicle.

As per the agreement, Reliance Industrial Investments & Holdings Limited (RIIHL), the sponsor of Tower Infrastructure Trust, will issue units in the trust to Brookfield affiliate BIF IV Jarvis India and co-investors, including GIC.